CAM Sept 2013

SPOKEN REASONS 24

This artist has a lot going for himfrom a successful performing

career to a part in the new film THEHEAT.

This Unique College Event Is Brought ToYou By Our Friends At Diversity Talent

CEP The Evolution of An Agency 34From a profitable novelty company to taking on the cause of distracted and drunk driving.

LOVE or CONTROL 20Agent Gina Kirkland shares with students how to identify potential dangers and how to get help.

Girls Fight Back 14An incredible program that will teachyour students the signs of stalking andhow to protect themselves.

IT’S ALL INSIDEFrom the Publisher 4Real Life 6Laff Guru 8Artist Profile: Ron Placone 23

Artist Report Cards 282013/14 Conferences 31Mark Toland: In Your Face 342014 AEP Conference 36

Campus Activities LIVE! atWake Forest University 10The Wake Activities Board shares with us what works for them and most campuses their size.

Back in the 1500’s Most people got marriedin June because they took their yearly bathin May and they still smelled pretty good byJune. However, since they were starting tosmell, brides carried a bouquet of flowers tohide the body odor. Hence the custom todayof carrying a bouquet when getting married.

Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hotwater. The man of the house had the privi-lege of the nice clean water. Then all theother sons and men, then the women andfinally the children. Last of all the babies. Bythen the water was so dirty you could actu-ally lose someone in it. Hence the saying,

"Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater!"

Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piledhigh, with no wood underneath. It was theonly place for animals to get warm, so all thecats and other small animals (mice, bugs)lived in the roof. When it rained it becameslippery and sometimes the animals wouldslip and fall off the roof. Hence the saying,"It's raining cats and dogs."

There was nothing to stop things from fallinginto the house.This posed a real problem inthe bedroom where bugs and other drop-

pings could mess up your nice clean bed.

Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheethung over the top afforded some protection.That's how canopy beds came into exis-tence.The floor was dirt. Only the wealthyhad something other than dirt. Hence thesaying, "Dirt poor." The wealthy had slatefloors that would get slippery in the winterwhen wet, so they spread thresh (straw) onthe floor to help keep their footing.

As the winter wore on, they added morethresh until, when you opened the door, itwould all start slipping outside. A piece ofwood was placed in the entrance-way.Hence: a thresh hold.

RANDOM THOUGHTS & OTHER MINDLESS DRIBBLE

4, CAMPUS ACTIVITIES MAGAZINE®, SEPTEMBER 2013 www.campusactivitiesmagazine.com

Did You Ever Wonder Where AParticular Saying Came From?

PUBLISHER CONTINUES ON PAGE 17

BY ELAINE PASQUA

KEEP MOVINGStudies are showing that Americans arebecoming more sedentary - we are aver-aging 5,117 steps a day when we shouldbe taking 10,000. When I was growingup, obesity was rare. On one hand I canname friends parents who were over-weight. Between computers, smart de-vices and TV, we are moving less,gaining weight, and are experiencing anincrease in weight-related ailments likediabetes and cardiovasculardisease. From 1965 to 2009people's sedentary time out-side of work increased by 40percent.

People can strive to exerciseeach day or even several daysa week, but that is not enough.Those who sit for a living do notlive as long as those who standand move about. People whowatch many hours of televi-sion experience a higher risk ofdeath. That includes individu-als who engage in seven hoursof moderate to vigorous exercise a week.Marching during the commercials whileviewing an hour and a half of televisionwill add 2,000 steps to your day. (A sadcommentary on how many commercialswe are forced to watch!)

I remember a converstaion with a re-spectful athletic trainer before I presentedto the athletes at U Mass Dartmouth. Shesaid, "We were built to move - our bodies,joints and muscles function much betterwhen we do." I was always athletic but asresponsibilites pile on, it's not as easy totake time out to exercise.

So how do I keep moving? If peoplecould see me at home they would thinkI am nuts! I am always making an effortto incorporate exercise into my dailyroutine. Squats are performed as Iblow dry my hair and leg lifts whilebrushing my teeth or doing dishes.When I am working at my desk I forcemyself to stand and march in placeevery hour. I have an exercise ball andweights in my office and use a headsetphone. While I am talking to people atdifferent campuses I pick up thesmaller weights to work on my arms. Ialso bounce on the exercise ball to

work on my thighs. I never walk up ordown the steps, I always run.

Recently I had an appointment on thetenth floor of a building in Philadelphia.When leaving the office I saw a longline of people who were waiting for theelevator. I decided to walk down thesteps, arriving on the ground floor thesame time they did. As a bonus, thelarge windows in the stairwell providedat fantastic view of the city. As a fre-quent flyer I stand or walk laps aroundthe boarding area of the airport, know-ing that I will be sitting for awhile. While

sitting isometrics are performed, isolat-ing and tightening various muscles tobuild tone.

Incorporating movement into your dailyroutine will raise your metabolism, help-ing to control weigh and provide muscletone. It will elevate your mental acuity byincreasing the blood flow back to thebrain and help you to secrete more en-dorphins, thus elevating your mood. Whodoesn't want to look and feel better?

Be creative in the ways you incorpo-rate exercise into your daily routine.

Perhaps it could be as sim-ple as parking further backin a parking lot, or not usinga drive up window. Take thestairs rather than the eleva-tor. Run up the stairs! Walkacross campus instead oftaking the inner campustransport. It was discoveredthat even washing dishesor kneading bread by handis benefical. Many gadetswere created to make ourlives simpler but they areactually creating a senden-tary life style and we are

getting out of shape!

I recently met an 89 year old womanwho was spry, radiant and as sharp ascan be. Her secret? She never stopsmoving or working. This past year shevolunteered for Habitat for Humanityand filled a whole dumpster by herself!So keep moving! Your body and mindwill be much healthier! An ounce of pre-vention can go a long way.

Questions on college life? Email me [email protected]


By Steven Kent McFarlin (AKA Spanky)

I have just returned home from a summer in theMiddle East, which is exactly what I suggest you doif you ever find yourself there that time of year. Be-fore I continue, I want to state for the record I amcasting no disparagements upon the cultures thatpopulate that part of the world. What follows are notthe words of a serious writer, like Salman Rushdie,but merely the offbeat observations of a professionalbuffoon who makes a living making offbeat obser-vations. So please don’t anyone take offense andissue a fatwā on my head. Shokran jazeelan!(Thank you very much!)

The Middle East is a vast region and I covered agreat deal of it; my Armed Forces Entertainment AllStar Comedy Tour took me through thirteen differentairports on nine different airlines to ten differentcountries, ruled by kings, emirs, presidents, and sul-tans. I have now performed in twenty-nine countriesscattered around the world and can say with all hon-esty no other part of the planet has been as difficultto relax. Arriving in a crowded airport to find you arethe only person wearing pants and a baseball cap,instead of an Arabic robe and headdress, is a littlefrightening. I was even unnerved by the women thatare covered head to toe in a “burqa,” particularly theones that did not have an open slit for the eyes, justa strip of semi-transparent cloth they peeredthrough. Even Chuck Norris would be terrified to seethem driving the car next to him.

Perhaps my tension derived from growing up withthe generally negative cultural portrayal in the west-ern media. Can you name a recent movie that fea-tured an Arab that was not either a terrorist or

wealthy oilman repressing females? Or maybe myfears stem from the news reports of the frequent vi-olent conflicts that proliferate in the region. For ex-ample, near the end of my tour I was briefly feelingmore relaxed, then news broke of an increased ter-ror threat that locked down the base I was on andclosed embassies. Yikes!

After my summer there I think I may know why thereis so much regional discord: it is difficult to be pleas-ant to anyone when it is 140 degrees out! You didnot read that wrong. The daily temperatures hit be-tween 120° and 140°. Nighttime offers little reliefsince the heat index rises with the evening humidity.I did one outdoor show with a heat index of 136 de-grees (without the stage lights) and that kind of hotcan play tricks on your mind...I thought I saw Opti-mus Prime transform into a damn air conditioner!

Even if the weather had been tolerable, I could nothave relaxed because of all the dangerous creepycrawlies, such as the ginormous Camel Spider andthe deadly Sand Viper (Google them) as well as bigblack scorpions that like to stay in cool dark places,such as our buildings and tents. Because thesescorpions glow under ultraviolet light, the troops in-spect their rooms with a UV flashlight before theygo to sleep. This knowledge made relaxing even inbed impossible.

If the heat and poisonous critters did not makethings miserable enough, add the mix of strongwinds and endless sand, creating sandstorms toosevere to describe. Let’s just say that flashers haveto describe themselves. So in fairness to the localpeople that live under such conditions, I can under-stand a little irritability.

Unfortunately, my trip coincided with the most irritabletime of the year, the holy month of Ramadan, whenfrom sunrise to sunset it is forbidden to eat, drink(even water), smoke, chew gum, hold hands withanyone, and to wear shorts or a shirt without sleevescovering your elbows. Think of how testy you wouldbe in such oppressive heat knowing that taking a sipof water can get you a year in jail! In fact, the localsget so irritable, American base commanders restrictour troops from driving off base between 5:30 and6:30 PM when there is rampant road rage after a fullday of hunger, dehydration, and tobacco withdrawal.Even during normal conditions the driving is treach-erous. I was told that because many locals have thefunds or connections to fix traffic tickets, speed limitsare generally disregarded, and I personally wit-nessed cars driving at speeds I estimate to exceedone-hundred-fifty miles per hour. So taking a relaxingdrive is totally out of the question.

Many Americans like to relax by taking the edge offwith a frosty adult beverage, but most Muslims don’thave that option since alcohol is banned—not justduring Ramadan—but eternally. Soldiers in Kuwaittold me there is a black market for the Nyquil sold

on base because of the alcohol it contains, the onlylegal alcohol sold in the entire country. (Was alsotold they recently broke up a black market operationwhich was smuggling bacon and ham off the basesince all pork products are illegal, and thus, coveted.Local restaurants had beef bacon on the menuwhich was basically just bacon-shaped beef.)

It was also difficult for me to relax in an Arabic toilet,which is fundamentally just a hole in the floor tosquat over, and there is never any tissue, just a hosefor clean up (which I guess is why they prefer robesto pants). One of the more shocking moments ofmy tour was when I was in the toilet of a Turkish Airjet, which, thankfully, had a seat, and pushed whatI thought was the button to flush only to rudely dis-cover I had activated the bidet. That will wake youup quicker than a double espresso!

Even when I am home in the USA, I find it hard torelax around billionaires, or even millionaires for thatmatter (having always been a thousandaire myself).The Middle East has an abundant number of über-rich and getting more each day. For example, inQatar, the world’s richest country per capita, if youare a Qatari national the government distributes itsoil and gas profits to you with a twenty-thousanddollar stipend every month. So a family of four is rak-ing in eighty-grand a month for doing nothing! As aresult, most of the common jobs are done by work-ers imported from India, the Philippines, andEthiopia. These people are paid what we wouldconsider slave wages, $250-$300 per month, butsince that is ten times the amount they would earnback home they are thrilled to have the job, so muchso they rarely report any abuse for fear of being de-ported. My flight on Ethiopian Airlines was filled withteenage girls being shipped to the Middle East tobe maids. They were so fearful of the fate thatawaited them many had thrown up before the flighteven took off.

I could fill a page with surprising observations aboutthe local people I encountered (such as it appearsthe women are buying eyeliner by the pound andthe language can best be described as soundinglike Mama Cass' last words) however, in fairness tothem, it is their culture with their rules and I was buta visitor. I am sure if they visited America they wouldbe surprised to see a country where even the poorpeople are fat, and simpletons like me can make aliving making offbeat observations. But say whatyou will about our country, it is a great place torelax...

Steven Kent McFarlin (AKA “Spanky”) has been de-scribed as a “campus entertainment icon.” He offers twogreat events at one low price, and has been voted“Campus Comic of the Year” (LaffGuru.com) and the“Campus Performer of the Year”. His credits include over50 TV appearances, including: Showtime, Good Morn-ing America, and The Late Show. He is represented byGP Entertainment.

My Summer in the Middle East

8, CAMPUS ACTIVITIES MAGAZINE® SEPTEMBER 2013 www.campusactivitiesmagazine.com

10, campus activities magazine®, septemBeR 2013 www.campusactivitiesmagazine.com

situated just northwest of the city of Winston-salem, north carolina, WakeForest university is a small, private university originally founded in 1834 andwas located in the town that bears it’s name. Wake Forest relocated to itspresent location in 1956. the school consists of a school of arts and scienceas well as a school of Business, and offers 40 majors and 57 minors.

student union at Wake Forest is the primary campus-wide programmingboard. Kathy arnett is the Director, who sits down with us to talk about theprograms there, along with student leaders aubrey peterson, president,annie eggleston, vp of marketing, cameron Flayer, vp of membership, emilyBiddle, vp of administration and Lucas swenson, vp of Finance, all of whomcomprise the entirety of the executive Board of student union.

cameron explains a little bit more about the size and structure of su. “theboard in general has two advisors, Kathy being one and tiffany Hassler, theassistant Director. We have the five member exec board and additionally 12programming chairs, who sit on the board. they are the ones who lead thecommittees and really plan all of our events.”

the committees are paired into six groups of two. “two programming boardchairs are paired into six committees and each one has between 20-30 people.there are probably about 120 committee members involved in the su total.the committees include attractions, coffeehouse, Homecoming, FamilyWeekend, campus traditions, special events, Lectures, short courses,Films, springfest, tuesday trivia and social media.

With only about 7,500 students, 4,500 of which are undergrads, that is a prettyhealthy level of participation for an activities board. “We plan over 200 pro-grams a year,” cameron says, “and that’s happened since Kathy came onboard about 10 years ago. prior to her arrival there were only between 50-60events per year, but now there are so many more. there is a little bit of com-petition between program board chairs, we all want to plan as many eventsas possible and try to outdo each other (laughs).”

unlike many universities, the budget for su is not solely derived from a stu-dent activities fee embedded in tuitions. “We get money from the universityeach year,” Lucas says. “We have a revenue level we must reach each year,if that makes sense. so, we get a certain allocation, but we also must generatea certain amount of revenue, which we do through ticketed events mostly.We also have the opportunity to apply on an event by event basis to the stu-dent activities Board, which does come from the fees included in tuitions.”

www.campusactivitiesmagazine.com campus activities magazine®, septemBeR 2013, 11

Like most campuses, there are certaingenres of entertainment that work bet-ter than others, and in all time slotsthroughout the week. “We have founda few genres that consistently workvery well,” Annie says. “Late night pro-gramming and weekend programmingalways do well, and we maintain goodattendance during weekly program-ming as well. We have Tuesday Triviaevery week at 8PM, as well as weeklyfilms shown on campus. Those arefree for students and are always newreleases, for example this weekend wehad “The Hangover Part III.” So theyare films that are current and interest-ing to the student population. We alsohave comedy clubs and open mic

nights, which tends to be very popular.We really have a broad range of pro-grams that we do.”

Many campuses seem to find a partic-ular entertainer that works well, sothey’ll have them back on an annualbasis for a guaranteed hit. Not so atWFU. “We have campus traditions, we

actually have a Campus TraditionsChair, and she plans ‘Awake All Night’which takes place once a semester,which is a night from 10PM-2AM in ourstudent center and is filled to the brimwith fun novelties, games and food,which are all free. That and our ‘Light-ing Up The Quad’ in December arewhat we consider our campus tradi-tions. As far as artists though, we don’thave anyone that is recurring. Wehave had some really great people thatwe have brought in the past that havegone on to great success, but generallywe keep up a steady rotation ratherthan falling back on the same artists inconsecutive years.” Artists may cringeat the thought of not having any possi-

bility of the coveted re-booking, but theSU likes to keep things fresh.

One particular joy of working in theworld of campus booking is the abilityto say “We had them when...” WFUhas it’s own share of feathers in theircap. “We have had some great peoplein the past that were not so famous at

the time we booked them but havegone on to great success, like ChrisRock, Jay Leno, Dave Matthews Band,etc. Last year we had a concert called‘WAKEstock’ and it featured Mackle-more and Ryan Lewis, KendrickLamar, Natalie Stovall and Black Girlsperform. We are really excited, in acouple of weeks we are bringing BrettEldredge to campus, who is a risingcountry star. We booked him before hegot big and now he has a number 1 hiton iTunes, which means we were ableto grab him for a lot less of our budgetthan we would if we wanted to book thesame show now. That’s a good feeling,and makes us look great to our admin-istration, not only because it was a

smart play, but because it will be verywell attended, and the ticketed revenuecompared to the amount invested willbe a very good ratio.”

When it comes to what types of musicwork well, there’s a pretty even mix, butthe board doesn’t attempt to force theirown preferences onto the student pop-


ulation, or turn it into a guessing game.“We try to send out student surveys atthe beginning and end of the year togauge what the population is interestedin,” Emily says. “In years past we havehad a lot of interest in hip-hop andcountry has been a growing area of in-terest. We try to avoid bringing in any-thing we know the campus isn’tbuzzing about.” Having to derive rev-enue off of ticket sales makes cateringto their market an important part ofconcert promotion, just as in the “realworld.” Many of these events are opento the public, as having an audience ofonly 5,000 undergrads would makemajor concerts a fairly unsustainablemodel. “We tend to keep them strictlystudent based, unless it is someone re-ally big that we know the public wouldbe drawn to,” Aubrey says. “For in-stance last year we hosted Frank War-ren of PostSecret fame. We know hehas a very large cult following, so weopened that to the public. The ticketprices for the general audience is usu-ally slightly increased over what stu-dent pay, just so they know it’s made tocater to them and they have first prior-ity. They can get earlier sales and bet-ter seating as well.”

Venue space, like on most campuses,can be a constant challenge when pro-gramming at WFU. “We don’t have avenue space large enough to accom-modate our entire student body if wehave to go inside,” Kathy says. “If wesell to the public, it’s going to be an out-door show. We do have a coliseum,but it’s a bus trip away, not right on ourcampus. It’s also something that in-creases the overhead costs of puttingon an event considerably.”

While they are limited in very largesized venues, WFU does have a vari-ety of programming spaces for theirother events where capacity is notsuch an issue. “We really try to utilizeall of the venues that our campus of-fers,” Annie says. “We have twoquads that we use for outdoorspaces, one is our lower quad, whichhas a really nice permanent stage al-ready built in. We use that for our cof-feehouse events, and we also havean indoor sports bar style place calledShorty's, which is a really great venue

for the indoor coffeehouse shows,late night open mics and TuesdayTrivia. There is a stage in there aswell and it is always packed with stu-dents who are eating there anyway aspart of their meal plan. We also haveWait Chapel, which seats 2300 peo-ple, which is our biggest indoor venueon campus, where we host some ofour concerts like Jason Mraz, SaraBareilles and O.A.R. Davis Field andManchester Plaza are our outdoor

concert venues and can accommo-date up to 4000 guests. We alsohave a new space on campus calledThe Barn that is just three years old,which holds about 650 people. It is avery flexible space we have used asa comedy club, for away footballgame viewing parties and this yearwe are doing a Haunted Barn event,where our Film Chair will show ascary movie around Halloween.”

WFu is a great example of a cam-pus with a very sound business

model and a wide range of events,teaching the students that are a

part of its student union the skillsthey will need to plan and programprofessionally if that’s the career

path they choose. For more infor-mation on WFu and su, contact

Kathy arnett at [email protected] (336) 758-5228.

IF YOU THINKYOUR ACTIVITIES

PROGRAMHAS SOMETHING

UNIQUEIT CAN SHARE

WITH THE OTHERSCHOOLS INTHE CAMPUSACTIVITIESMAGAZINE®

FAMILY...

CONTACT IAN KIRBY

ian@campusactivitiesmagazine

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YOUR PROGRAMMAY BE A GOOD

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There are many purposes for our sys-tem of student programming and cam-pus activities, dollars that all studentspay in their tuitions that are meant toentertain yes, but even more impor-tantly, to enlighten. What’s really fortu-nate is when a program can do bothand even still take it a step further.We’re talking about a program that cannot only give your students somethingto do, but it can teach them what to do,and make your campus and surround-ing community a safer place.

Girls Fight Back! was founded by ErinWeed in 2001, after she was inspiredto take other women on the same jour-ney of self-discovery and self-empow-erment she had herself taken after theviolent death of a close friend. “I hadrecently graduated college and was

living in New York City working as atelevision producer when I found outone of my best friends, Shannon Mc-Namara who was two years youngerthan me and still in school, had beenmurdered in her campus apartment atEastern Illinois University. Learningthat for me, was almost like a ‘Matrix’moment, where all of a sudden I real-ized that this ‘program’ I had been liv-ing in of a safe and secure world wasjust that, a program...an illusion. Thereal world is gritty and dark and scaryand that is how I compare the changeof my perspective in that moment,learning about the violence that canfall on any one of us. When I wenthome for the week of the funeral, I re-alized it wasn’t just me, everyone Iknew was scared and very unnerved.”

Erin started to process more and morewhat this fear was not only rooted in, butits greater effect on her life as well. “Istarted to wonder what that fear washolding me back from. I was hearing myfriends saying ‘the worst part of my dayis when I have to walk to my car in theparking lot, or leave my night class, orgo to work at night.’ They didn’t want tolive alone, or travel and I realized thisfundamental fear of being murdered orraped or attacked is really holding usback in so many ways.”

So, Erin decided to do something aboutit. She began taking extensive self de-fense courses and training herself tomaster her fear and live the life shewanted unconfined by the worries ofconstant physical danger; not turning ablind eye to it or ignoring the dangers,


but by being prepared for the possibilityof them. “At that time, it was somethingI was doing more for myself than any-thing else. I didn’t have any sort ofgrandiose plan, but I began to realizethat if this was affecting me so deeply, itmust be doing the same for women allover the country. I realized one of thebest tributes that I could give to Shan-non would be to become proactive in myown life and make sure the same thingnever happened to me.”

It wasn’t long before Erin realized thatshe could do more than just put her ownmind at ease, she could make a real dif-ference by spreading this message andteaching the techniques she hadlearned, not only in the basics of self de-fense, but in the attitude and confidencethat came with knowing she was no

longer a shrinking violet or easy push-over to would-be attackers.

“Girls Fight Back! is a 90 minute sem-inar that is given at colleges acrossthe nation,” she says. “We have beenpresenting it since 2001 and in thattime have reached over a million peo-ple. It has been a really transforma-tional time and experience in my lifeover the past 12 years, and has actedas my hope and healing.”

More than just delivering hope, it hasbeen a way for millions of people tostake a claim on their own lives. “Peo-ple have been able to claim theirpower, which is what I think the pro-gram is really all about. It’s not justself defense, or learning how to fightbad guys, it’s about owning your

power in so many different types ofsituations, whether that be physically,verbally or socially. It is about owningyour own decisions and becoming aunique, independent and strong per-son in every facet of life. That’s reallywhat Girls Fight Back! is and we’vehad a lot of success with it, and it hasbeen a lot of fun.”

There is a variation of the program calledStudents Fight Back!, which encom-passes both men and women into oneprogram, but the flagship program ofGFB! is focused on the female popula-tion of your student body, a specificpopulation that could have certain fearsas they move onto or around campusand on their own, often for the first time.

www.campusactivitiesmagazine.com CAMPUS ACTIVITIES MAGAZINE®, SEPTEMBER 2013, 15

Gina Kirkland, of Kirkland Productions, mo-tivated by some personal circumstances(check out Gina’s article on stalking in thisissue), recently made the decision to ac-quire the GFB! franchise from Erin, who withtwo children and other projects command-ing her attention, has decided it’s time topass on the torch. “Girls Fight Back! is de-signed for women, and if you look statisti-cally at addressing violence in our culture,violence against women is a very big issue,”Gina says. “That is not to say that men arenot an important part of the answer; we dohave men that come to the program andthat works out great as well, but we are pri-marily speaking to the women on campus.Students Fight Back! still has all of the samecore information that is important to every-one, but also includes a piece on bystanderbehavior that is very important so that mencan be part of the solution.”

More than self defense, more than kickingbad guy butt, more than just feeling morecomfortable about the fear of bodily harm,GFB! is about something more. “It’s anidea,” Erin says. “It’s much bigger than justme, or even Shannon’s story, as importantas it is. We hope we can convey the infor-mation and make it relatable, but the idea isthat one should NEVER make decisionsstemming from fear...we should all live thelife that we have always wanted to, no re-grets, no holding back, no reservations withnothing standing in our way. That is whatGirls Fight Back! is all about and I knew thatconcept had legs and was something thatwe could scale.”

Erin realized that if she wanted to spreadthis message in a truly effective manner, shecouldn’t do it alone, so she trained a teamof speakers to go out and help her propa-

gate this new way of thinking. Now withGina and Kirkland Productions stepping into take the program to the next level, theGFB! team hopes to expose many, manymore students to the valuable and life-changing lessons they are teaching.

“Gina has been able to continue to traineven more speakers to keep up with de-mand, and they have done a phenomenaljob. They are better speakers than I am atthis point, and it just goes to show you thatwhen there is an idea that people need andwant to hear, almost anything is possible.”

Gina leaves us with a profound thought: “Iwanted to share a quote, that has been re-ally powerful to me, from the wonderful

Gavin de Becker and his book, ‘The Giftof Fear and Other Survival Signals ThatProtect Us From Violence.’ I think this re-ally cuts to the heart of things. ‘Most menfear getting laughed at or humiliated by ro-mantic prospects, while most women fearrape and death.’ That is quite a differentfear, and when you put into that perspec-tive and start to compare those things, itspeaks to exactly why a program like GirlsFight Back! can be such a powerful andempowering tool for a campus.”

For more information on bringing GirlsFight Back! Or Student Fight Back! Toyour campus, contact Gina at KirklandProductions at 866-769-9037 or [email protected].

ERIN WEED BREE SWARTZ HEATHER MAGGS GINA KIRKLAND


TO RECEIVE A SPECIAL $150 DISCOUNT,MENTION THE CAM SPECIAL OFFER.

In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle thatalways hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added thingsto the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat.They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to getcold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes stew hadfood in it that had been there for quite a while.

Hence the rhyme: “Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas por-ridge in the pot nine days old."

Often times they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite spe-cial. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to showoff. It was a sign of wealth that a man could, "bring home the bacon."

They would cut off a little to share with guestsAnd would all sit around and “chew the fat”.

Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acidcontent caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing leadpoisoning and even death.This happened most often with tomatoes,so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.

Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottomof the loaf, the family got the middle and guests got the top, or theupper crust.

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky.The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a cou-ple of days, Someone walking along the road would take them fordead and prepare them for burial.They were laid out on the kitchentable for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eatand drink and wait and see if they would wake up.

Hence the custom; “holding a wake."

England is old and small and the local folks started running out ofplaces to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take thebones to a bone-house, and reuse the grave. When reopening thesecoffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on theinside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So theywould tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffinand up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would haveto sit out in the graveyard all night (the graveyard shift) to listen for thebell; thus, someone could be,“saved by the bell" or was "considered adead ringer”.

Where did "Piss Poor" come from? Interesting history.

They used to use urine to tan animal skins, so families used to all peein a pot. And then once it was full, it was taken and sold to the tan-nery... If you had to do this to survive you were "Piss Poor". But worsethan that were the really poor folk who couldn't even afford to buy apot. They "didn't have a pot to piss in" and were the lowest of the low.

The next time you are washing your hands and complain because thewater temperature isn't just how you like it, think about how things used tobe. Just a little education you may not be getting in history class.

Thanks to my buddy Shawn in Orlando for sharing this historylesson with me and with you.

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By Gina Kirkland

talking is probably most familiar to usfrom celebrity news stories—Rhiannaand Ashley Tisdale have both been inthe news recently getting protective

orders issued against their stalkers. The truth ofthe matter is that the most stalking cases (ap-proximately 3/4) do not happen betweenstrangers, but between two people who knoweach other, very commonly incidences in whichthe perpetrator and the victim have or (more im-portantly) had a personal or intimate relationship.In these cases, the closeness of the relationshiponce in place between the victim and the perpe-trator is part of what makes this crime so complexfor women.

It is estimated that 6.6 million people are victimsof stalking each year, and I am speaking outtoday as one of those victims. This is a difficultsubject to discuss and an experience that I havepersonally kept hidden for some time, but I amspeaking out today in order to help others whomay be in similar circumstances.

1 in 6 women and 1 in 19 men will be stalked intheir lifetime, and many of these crimes go unre-ported and unprosecuted. Though women canbe stalked by men and women, and men can bestalked by women or men, for the purposes ofthis article, I will primarily refer to stalking in itsmost common form: women being stalked bymen. And though this can affect anyone, themost common victims of stalking are women be-tween the ages of 18 and 24—college agedwomen.

The Supplemental Victimization Survey by theDepartment of Justice defines stalking as includ-ing some or all of these acts which may not becriminal individually, but that collectively andrepetitively cause the victim fear:

• Making unwanted phone calls• Sending unsolicited or unwanted letters, e-mails, or other forms of electronic communication

These first two acts are the most commonly ex-perienced by victims of stalking with 83% of stalk-ing victims surveyed reporting that e-mail andtext was used to harass them.

• Following or spying on the victim• Showing up at places without alegitimate reason

• Waiting at places for the victim• Leaving unwanted items, presents, or flowers• Posting information or spreading rumors aboutThe victim on the internet, in a public place, or by word of mouth.

When victims were asked what their perceptionwas as to the reason the stalking or harassmentbegan, these were the most common re-sponses:

30% Retaliation/anger/spite25.2% Control16.7% Mentally ill/emotionally unstable13.7% Liked me/found me attractive/had a

crush12.9% To keep in the relationship10.3% Substance abuser

* Details sum to more than 100% becausemultiple responses were permitted.

President Obama issued a proclamation, nam-ing January 2013 as National Stalking Aware-ness Month, stating that: “The perpetrator isusually someone the victim knows. Stalking be-havior may be innocuous to outside observers,but victims often endure intense physical andemotional distress that affects every aspect oftheir lives. . . . Tragically, stalking tends to esca-late over time, and it is sometimes followed bysexual assault or homicide.”

No two stalking situations are alike, and it is im-portant to note that one of the frequent tactics ofthe stalker is to downplay his or her own behaviorcausing the victim to question the validity of hisor her fears. Implied threats of violence, such as“I won’t be at peace until you are dead” or veiledthreats of suicide such as, “you won’t be happy

until I put a gun in my mouth” can easily be dis-missed by the perpetrator as “fiery e-mails” or “afew angry texts” when the intention of these com-munications is obvious and clear—to create fearin the victim. Implied threats are no different intheir intention than direct threats and should al-ways be taken seriously. The Stalking ResourceCenter points out that stalking “can have devas-tating and long-lasting physical, emotional, andpsychological effects on victims. The prevalenceof anxiety, insomnia, social dysfunction, and se-vere depression is much higher among stalkingvictims than in the general population.”

My personal experience happened twice as Imade the mistake of succumbing to the behaviorthe first time and returned to the unhealthy rela-tionship. This led me to have to repeat thebreakup process a second time; thereby retrig-gering the stalking. I felt immense guilt and em-barrassment that I made the same mistaketwice; and, I allowed those feelings to negativelyimpact my ability to control my response andseek a swifter resolution.

The second stalking incident (after the secondbreakup) lasted well over a year, but I thought Icould wait it out. I had great hopes when mystalker entered a new relationship. Maybe he willlose interest in me? I thought it was necessaryto reply to his contact by repeating over and overthat I was no longer and would never be inter-ested. Granted, I had already trained my stalkerthat if he harassed me long enough, I would goback to the relationship rather than endure thestalking—a decision I later came to regret.None of my efforts had any effect other than tofuel the behavior, and I began to allow myself tobelieve that the situation was my fault, just as heinsisted it was. My stalker made it clear that theonly way to end the stalking was to go back tothe relationship, telling me things like, “I will neverlove anyone but you,” “we were meant to be to-gether forever,” “any woman who isn’t you is onlya placeholder.”

Love or control? The answer seems crystal clearin hindsight, but at the time, in the cloud of fear

S


and anxiety (confusion of the abuse paired witha history of emotional connection), it was difficultto decipher. For over a year, I was on edge. Ididn’t sleep. I lost weight. I tried to move on withthe many positive aspects of my life and ignorethe stalking. I attempted to act like nothing waswrong in front of friends, co-workers, employees,my son, and my family. There were many un-comfortable times when I would be out withsomeone while my phone was beeping inces-santly with e-mails and texts and I made excusesfor it, pretending everything was fine, only to learnafter the fact that no one was buying it. No matterhow much I tried to deny it, I was completelystressed out and it showed. At the time, I couldn’t

admit to anyone that I had let another person sothoroughly control my life. It was completely hu-miliating.

Of course, it doesn’t help that the media often ro-manticizes this crime. I know that have you seenthis portrayed on television or in movies—a manwon’t give up on his quest for the woman of hisdreams. She rebuffs him, and plays hard to get,but eventually she “sees the light” and he getsthe girl. This encourages the incorrect notionthat stalking is about love and that women don’thave the right to choose who they want to be ina relationship with.

Stalking is NEVER about love. It is only aboutpower and persistence. Gavin de Becker in TheGift of Fear states, “The fact that a romantic pur-suer is relentless doesn’t mean you are special—it means he is troubled.” Complicating mattersfurther, it is often difficult for the victim to explainthe unwanted contact, which is sometimes sobizarre and far-fetched that she might feel crazyeven saying it out loud. For this, among otherreasons, the crime often goes unreported to po-lice and also unreported to friends and lovedones. That isolation works to the perpetrator’sadvantage making it easier for him to hide thisbehavior to the outside world and to any sharedassociates.

One of the most insidious developments in stalk-ing over the past 20 years is how easy it has be-come through technological advances. When inthe past a stalker had to leave his house andshow up at your home or place of work, todaymany stalkers control their victims with unwantede-mails, phone calls, texts, and even setting upfalse profiles on social media to monitor your ac-tivities all from the comfort of home. This newwave of stalking, called cyberstalking, has be-come very common with 83% of stalking victimsreporting some form of cyberstalking. The goodnews, is that it is also makes the stalking easy todocument with a long trail of evidence. This canbe very helpful to the police if and when you de-cide you need a court order of protection. Aspainful as it can be, (and I personally know that itcan be), you must keep a log of all contact. Keepall e-mails, or as I did, forward them to someoneelse to keep on your behalf so you don’t have anopportunity to see them again. Keep records oftexts. Record all calls with times, what was said,and any threats that were issued. If you do de-cide that prosecution is necessary, those logs areessential to your case.

Some unwanted romantic relationships can beended altogether before there is a major situationon your hands, if people know how to say NOproperly. It seems easy—a simple two letterword, but in our efforts to be kind, we often use itincorrectly. This is one lesson I wish I had


learned much earlier! de Becker explains that,“stalking is how some men raise the stakes whenwomen don’t play along. . . . In fact, many casesof date stalking could be described as extendedrapes; they take away the freedom, and theyhonor the desires of the man and disregard thewishes of the woman.” So, if a person decideshe or she does not want to be in a relationshipwith any given person, it is best to say NO onetime and explicitly and then say nothing else.Anything communicated after “no,” even if thatcommunication is reiterating how much you wantto end all communication, IS MORE COMMU-NICATION. If you resist communication 20 timesand then cave in and reply to tell the stalker thatyou want to be left alone, your stalker doesn’thear that you want to be left alone. What he orshe does hear is that it takes 20 attempts at con-tact before the stalker gets the desired result . . . your attention.

However, not all cases are that simple. Somerequire further efforts. So, if you are in this situa-tion or you know someone who is, how do youfree yourself from a stalker? Here are a few tips:

• If you are in immediate danger, call 911.

• DON’T COMMUNICATE with the stalker orrespond to any attempts to contact you. Blocke-mails, block texts, make your online profiles pri-vate or take them down altogether.

• Keep evidence of the stalking – all e-mails,text messages, phone messages, notes, or let-ters. If the stalker shows up at your home or workor is following you, document the time, date, andplace. Ask witnesses to write down what theysaw and keep photographic evidence of anydamages or injuries the stalker causes.

• Trust your instincts. Don’t downplay the dan-ger. There is no such thing as “stalking light.” Ifyou feel unsafe, you probably are.

• Take threats seriously. Danger is typicallyhigher when the stalker talks about suicide, ormurder, or when the victim tries to leave or endthe relationship.

• Develop a safety plan, including things likechanging your routine, arranging a place to stay,and having friends or relatives around you. Tellpeople around you how they can help you andhave a plan of what to do if your stalker doesshow up at your home, work, or school.

• Contact a crisis hotline (contact information isincluded at the bottom of this article). They canhelp you with your safety plan, tell you about locallaws, and refer you to other services.

• Contact the police. Stalking is against the lawin all 50 states, all US Territories, and WashingtonDC. Note that laws vary from state to state andthe legal definition varies regarding the element

of fear and emotional distress as well as the in-tent of the stalker.

• Consider getting a court order. Keep in mindthat this is not the best course of action in allcases. In some cases it may be just the motiva-tion needed to get your stalker to stop. In othercases, it may fuel the anger and give the stalkerthe one thing he craves most – your attentionand the knowledge that you are frightened. If youaren’t sure on how to move forward with this,seek help and advice from some of the re-sources listed below.

•Talk about it! Tell family, friends, roommates,and co-workers whom you trust about the situa-tion and seek support. Have others help watchfor your safety.

• It also may be advisable to seek out pro-fessional counseling. It is normal to feel vul-nerable, unsafe, anxious, depressed,stressed, confused, frustrated, and isolatedwhen you are the victim of stalking. These arecommon reactions and ending the stalkingmay not relieve those feelings.

For additional resources:

www.stalkingawarenessmonth.orghttp://www.ovw.usdoj.gov/aboutstalking.htm

Crime Victims Hotline (stalking)1-866-689-HELP (4357)

National Domestic Violence Hotline1-800-799-SAFE (7233)

National Sexual Assault Hotline To be connected to the rape crisis centernearest to you, dial 1-800-656-HOPE (4673)

National Sexual Violence Resource Center(NSVRC) 1-877-739-3895

All statistics come from these sources: • US Department of Justice, Office on ViolenceAgainst Women• Supplemental Victimization Survey by theDepartment of Justice• US Department of Justice Statistics

Special Report• The Stalking Resource Center, The National

Center for Victims of Crime

About the Author – Gina Kirkland, owner ofKirkland Productions and KP Comedy, chan-neled her lifelong passion for Women’s Issuesinto the purchase of her third company, GirlsFight Back, in 2013. She is picking up thebanner from the amazing Erin Weed to con-tinue bringing the message of living a fearlesslife and combating violence against women tomillions of young women across the country.

www.girlsfightback.com


A brand new speaker to the campusmarket, and a brand new columnistto Campus Activities Magazine, RonPlacone is tackling a subject eachand every person that goes to col-lege deals with and is influenced byon a daily basis. The show is “Mad-ness In The Message: Start Talking”a one-man show about media criti-cism in the modern age.

Now, you could be an exception, butit’s pretty unlikely if you’re readingthis, since Ron’s deconstruction ofthe mass media machine in our cul-ture encompasses pretty much allmediums printed, watched, up-loaded or spoken. He has made ithis mission in life to cut through all ofthe proverbial BS and help studentssee beyond the veil. To get a tasteof his medicine, check out the first in-

stallment of his monthly column inour August issue (available on our website at .campusactmag.com) en-titled “College Students: America’sBest Hope” and be sure to check outhis upcoming columns in issuesthroughout the rest of this year.

Ron was interested in issues ofmedia during his undergraduatedstudies. “I was interested in themedia reform movement and newmedia in general, and in particular Ihad a very heavy interest in broad-casting and was interested in work-ing in radio. I eventually did and alsostarted doing stand-up comedy,which I still do. Slowly but surely, allthose things started to build and formtogether into something cohesive.”

Becoming more serious aboutstand-up comedy helped reallyhone Ron’s performance abilities,but it wasn’t exactly his bread andbutter. “This was a couple of yearsago and I wasn’t at the point whereI could be making a living at it quiteyet, so I thought, ‘What else can Ido?’ The one thing that really in-terested me was going back tograduate school, so I did. I studiedrhetoric and in the back of mymind I thought there had to be away to fuse my academic interestsin media and news structure anddeliberative democracy with com-edy, but have something thatwould be a little more ‘high brow’for lack of a better term. You seea lot of media satire with things like‘The Daily Show’ or ‘How TV Ru-ined Your Life’ over in the U.K., butI thought there would be a way todo it as a one man performancelecture that could fit into a highered setting more so than the tradi-tional comedy club setting.”

Ron approached his departmentabout it and during the final semesterof his master’s program he wasgiven an independent study to es-sentially complete this program. “Iwrote a 30 page paper about thetopic and my research interests ingeneral and then turned it into anhour long performance lecture. Ihave video sketches and songs andlots of things going on, but with a fairbit of academic theory woventhroughout the entertaining portions.”

After all of the groundwork was laid,it was time for Ron to field test thework. “I performed it at a theateronce a month for four months and itwas well received, but not exactly inthe right place. It occurred to me thatthe obvious home for it would be thecollege market, it truly is a programmeant for undergraduates and uni-versities. That is where I developedthese ideas and where they flourish.My next step was to figure out thecampus market and start doing it.”

This is a program completely freshand brand new to the market, withRon just coming out of his graduateprogram at Duquesne University inPittsburgh in 2012. “I wanted to finda way to merge my interests intosomething a little different and thecollege market was the obviouschoice. It was fun doing it in theatersand people who came to see theshow knew what they were coming

to see, so it was fine, but it didn’t feellike it was a perfect fit. When I am ina lecture hall or theater on campusthough, it clicks; it feels like what thisis really meant for.”

Ron feels the college audience isspecifically receptive to his messagefor a number of reasons. “I think thatcolleges and universities are wherethese ideas are alive and well. It’s atime in their lives when people lookat the media from a more politicalstandpoint. It’s one thing to say ‘Ohlook at how goofy the news is!’ Wesee that all the time from just aboutanyone who watches it. It is nothard to find absurdity in the newsmedia on a daily basis and look at itthrough a satirical lens. But the pur-pose of my program is to delvedeeper than that, why is this absurd-ity going on? What is going on withthis modern media structure, who’srunning it and the types of ideas thatthey are trying to promote and why?Why do we have such an intimatelove/hate relationship with the mediain this country and further, from amore philosophical standpoint, whatdoes it really mean to interact withthe media in general? We have torealize these are second hand mes-sages that we are not perceiving onour own. These stories are not cre-ated by the media, they are relayedand refracted by it, but we have a re-sponse to these messages that canbe widely varied based on our owncultural and intellectual perspectivein relation to them. This is some-thing one is around much more incollege than at any other time in life,whether it be a communications,journalism or philosophy class, orjust that academic, intellectual at-mosphere of processing new ideas.Pretty much everyone has been ex-posed to these ideas in college tosome degree, whether it is some-thing you are majoring in, or just acore class requirement. I think to ex-plore these ideas is meant for col-leges, and thus far the reception hasbeen very encouraging.”

Keep an eye on Ron’s column formore on his perspective. Give yourstudent body the benefit of his in-sights and let them draw their ownconclusions. Contact G.G. GregAgency at [email protected] 440-266-1732. Be sure to men-tion you discovered Ron through themagazine and get a special discountthrough CAM from the agencythrough the end of October.

ARTIST PROFILE:Ron Placone


The term “YouTube celebrity” is thrownaround a lot these days, but there aren’ta lot of them who have more than their15 minutes (or 15 seconds) of fame.They get their hits on the videos andfade right back into the relative obscurityfrom whence they came.

This month’s cover artist is the excep-tion, someone that one can refer to as agenuine, bona fide YouTube celebrity, somuch so that he has made the jumpfrom his own successful channels to thebig screen.

Spoken Reasons has amassed over 300million views on his series of videos (notjust a single flash in the pan but multiple1+ million view video success) andboasts over 3 million subscribers. Hol-lywood has taken note of this self madestar, to the point that he just made hisdebut acting appearance in the smashsuccess “The Heat,” starring SandraBullock and Melissa McCarthy.

It’s not surprising that his star is on sucha meteoric rise, for a guy who got astanding ovation after his first spokenword performance, and won $500 for hisfirst stand-up comedy appearance. Notto mention the role he landed in “TheHeat” was his first ever audition.

Spoken Reasons is a poet, comic, writer,actor and legitimate jack-of-all-trades,who has clearly mastered some. Whenbooking for the campus market, SRsays you’ll get a little bit of it all. “Whenyou see me in person, you are going toget the Spoken Reasons show. You’re

not going to get a straight stand upshow, you’re not going to get 100%laughs, or all poetry. You are going tosee a person who possesses many tal-ents, including comedy, singing, spokenword, piano; it’s a show with a lot of va-riety. I am not a very structured guywhen it comes to my live show (laughs),I perform based on how I’m feeling andhow the crowd is reacting. They are al-ways receptive to it. I believe if you arean artist and you are true to yourself andtrue to your craft and people know that,you will never have a problem. It doesn’tmatter what you do, if you want to get onstage and chop your feet off and throwthem in the audience, if that is what youare passionate about and people knowthat, they are going to accept it. Thereare plenty of artists in the world out therewho do reckless things on the stage andthey have fans that support them. Youpersonally may not support it or under-stand it, but someone will.”

His initial fascination with performingwas captivated by the spoken word. “Itwas actually a weird situation. I was incollege myself and didn’t have much tospeak of. I was on the verge of lookingfor a job, and I was involved with a girlwho dumped me for a football playerthat had entered the NFL draft. She toldme that I wasn’t going to be anybody. Ineeded to upgrade all my clothes, be-cause I was always wearing the samething because I didn’t have any money.That being said, I used that as motiva-tion; I locked myself in my apartment forabout a week and asked myself ‘Whatam I going to do? What am I going to do

to make myself a better person?’ I de-cided to start sharing my pain andthoughts with the world. I got on Googleand typed in the keyword ‘poetry.’ It wasjust something random, but I found spo-ken word poetry through that and foundout there was a venue right around thecorner form my apartment complex. Iwent on a whim and I liked the people, Iliked the strong mental pictures themetaphors invoked, so the next week Iwrote out my poetry and hit the stagemyself. I showed up and got a standingovation and it captivated me. I havebeen holding on to it ever since.”

This was in the city of Orlando, at a clubcalled the Speak No Evil poetry lounge.SR says a group called Diverse Ele-ments was an early influence, a collec-tion of poets he eventually befriendedand became a huge personal influencefor him. “They are like my poetry family.They were the first poets that I was ex-posed to, so those people were all inspi-rations to me early on. In the beginningI was just being inspired by them fromafar, but over time, they adopted me likea little brother and it was on a personallevel. I consider all of them family.”

After that initial encouraging reaction ofa standing ovation from his first per-formance, Spoken Reasons dove head-first into the world of becoming a fulltime performer. “I saw it as a careerpath. I consider myself a messenger,and I think it is my life’s calling. It wasthe career path I wanted to take, but spo-ken word is not a big market or a placewhere one can make a lot of money. I

INTERVIEW AND STORY BY IAN KIRBY



was in Orlando, had just dropped outof college and wasn’t making anymoney. I wasn’t making enough tomake ends meet and keep the lightson, so I moved back home. Once thathappened, I didn’t have any choice butto get online and get on YouTube. Idiscovered that I could make my ownchannel, and from there I decided Iwould just do comedy.”

It came naturally to him. “I have al-ways been a funny guy, but it wasn’tsomething that I asked for. It was ameans to an end at the time; I was in asituation I had to find my way out of.That was in 2008. I was able to gener-ate enough buzz to start supportingmyself off of shows. I made all of myends meet by doing poetry and stand-up shows around the region, driving toAtlanta and other major markets in thearea. Nowadays these kids onYouTube are putting up videos that aregetting popularity, but they have nostage experience or knowledge of whatit’s like to work in front of anything buta camera. That’s why I am glad Istarted off as a poet, because I wasable to maintain my financial incomeon that level, which not only allowedme to keep producing content for myYouTube channel, but also gave mereal life experience handling live audi-ences. I got on the road.”

Just like with the spoken word format,Spoken Reasons garnered immediatesuccess with stand-up comedy, whichturned out to be a more viable sourceof bookings, since the art form wasmore in demand in more venues than

purely spoken word performances. “Idid a majority of comedy performancesbecause that was where I could findwork. I stayed online, I never stoppeddropping videos. I dropped 2 a weekfor 9 months straight in 2011, and it al-lowed me to continue to grow my pres-ence and fan base. You have to getout and show up, perform shows. Youcan’t just sit at home and wait, lookingonline hoping success will come toyou.”

When it comes to finding those book-ings, the old adage “get off your assand knock on doors” applied to hismethod of getting things done. “I net-worked! When I first got on YouTube, Iwas already an actual road artist. Iwas networking with people who werein the game for 20 or 30 years that al-lowed me to get my foot in the door ina lot of places that most YouTube kidshad no idea about, and these oldschool folks knew nothing about them.Me getting out and actually talking topeople and working on selling myselfmade all the difference, rather than justsitting back and trying to let all theYouTube views do the work for me.”

The campus market has been a part ofSpoken Reason’s world for a long time.“The college market has always beena priority for me. I entered the collegemarket in 2008, doing free shows. Iwould drive from my home during col-lege to another college and volunteermy services just for a chance to per-form. At most other venues I would beperforming for older people. The col-lege market has the students, who re-

ally relate to me. I’m a young guy, I’monly 24 years old and those are thepeople I appeal to the most. Theymake up the majority of my fans, sowhy wouldn’t I be where they are?”

Being in front of a less jaded crowd isa thrill for any performer, but most es-pecially one that has made his bonesin a forum like YouTube, where the de-mographic feels right at home. “Theyare very enthusiastic. Rather than theolder crowd at a comedy club beingsurprised by me, someone they don’tknow, on a college campus, I am whothey came to see. I am who they lookup to and who inspires them. That’s agreat feeling. I make them laugh andbring joy to their lives and they respondin kind.”

Spoken Reasons isn’t the aloof sort ofperformer who walks on, does hisstage time and disappears, part of hisfavorite thing about performing oncampus is meeting the people whowant to meet him. “I do meet & greets,I hang out with my fans, I actually takepictures with them on stage while I amperforming a live show. I always takepictures and I interact with my fans onTwitter each and every day. I actuallymake my Twitter about them, not me.”

Watching Spoken Reasons on YouTube isa practice in eclecticism. He covers such awide range of topics and material it’s easyto see why he can find a home on just aboutany stage, in front of any audience. “I amwhoever you accept me to be. I am just aguy who tells the truth and speaks from theheart. I don’t believe truth has any color, or


With 50 Cent With Justin Bieber

class, or age. It’s all about the topic I am dis-cussing and anyone can relate to what I amtalking about. I might have come from a dif-ferent situation or environment than someof the folks in my audience, but there isnothing truly different about us. Whatevereach person hears and sees is what eachone accepts. I am not speaking just for onedirect type of demographic, I am speakingto people in general.”

SR is constantly looking to new chal-lenges and to break new ground, it’swhat makes him who he is. “I initiallytried stand-up comedy because Iwanted to accept that challenge in mylife. I was in a poetry venue performingand I saw a flyer and they were givingout $500 to any person that won thecompetition. I signed myself up, bat-tled about 300 comedians and won the

whole competition. I just did it becauseI wanted to see if I could.”

It was his first audition that landed himhis role in “The Heat.” You might thinkworking alongside such stars as San-dra Bullock and Melissa McCarthywould be intimidating for the big screenvirgin, but if you do, you don’t knowSpoken Reasons. “Of course that is adirection I want to pursue, because Ican captivate more people, and that iswhat I am here for. It is a huge plat-form. Let’s say I was never to be in an-other movie, it doesn’t matter. BecauseI am creating my own content, writingmy own stuff, I still get to be in front ofpeople and spread my message. Mycareer doesn’t depend solely on melanding another role. Each one mighthelp me reach more people, but I willalways be out and performing, and thatis all that really matters.”

This is a young and dynamic star witha big future, who will probably have alimited time in the campus market be-fore he is either too hot to afford, ortoo busy to work the gigs. So, if youwant to find out how to get him onyour campus while there’s still time,contact Brian Dennis at Diversity Tal-ent Agency at [email protected] or 770-210-5579.

BE SURE TO MENTION THISSTORY TO RECEIVE A SPECIALCAM READER DISCOUNT ON

THE SHOW!


On The Set OfTHE HEAT

With Shaq

ADAM GRABOWSKIAuburn Moon Agency

University of Akron Main Campus, Akron, OH08/18/13 244 Student Union Ballroom5 5 5 5 5 5 -Adam was absolutely HILARIOUS. His humorand jokes connect extremely well with the collegeaudience. His graphs had people laughing un-controllably and taking pictures to post to socialmedia. Adam is interactive and loves to hang outafterwards to give out his shirts and slap wrist-bands as well!Holly K. Pilcavage, GA-RHPB

Roosevelt University, Chicago, IL08/21/13 100 The Goodman Center5 5 5 5 5 - 5Adam had high and great energy and wasvery college friendly. He had the new stu-dents laughing from the minute he startedtill the second he ended. Wonderful!Gail Concepcion, Student Programmer/Orientation Leader

GRANT EDMONDS' COMEDY VARIETY GAME SHOWBass/Schuler Entertainment

Adams State College, Alamosa, CO08/21/13 60+ Carson Auditorium5 3 5 5 - 5 -Great job working with us at the last minutefor programming.Ashley Favela, Grizzly Activity Board VP of Programming

JACOB WILLIAMSFranco Talent

Keene State College, Keene, NH08/23/13 450+ Mabel Brown Room5 4 3 5 - 5 5Very professional. Very thankful for the ex-perience. Kind gesture in meeting fans aftershow. Took pictures and signed posters. Ex-

cellent artist to work with. His comedy styleis different, and appeals to a different audi-ence. Name recognition really helped outwith his advertising.Ryan Mahan, Events Coordinator

JEN KOBERAdmire Entertainment

University of Akron Main Campus, Akron,OH08/22/13 1119 E.J. Thomas Hall5 5 5 5 5 5 -Jen is at the top of her comedy game! Shestrung stories together with her comical witseamlessly. Our students loved her and theway she interacted with the crowd allthroughout the show.Holly K. Pilcavage, GA-RHPB

MISSION IMPROVABLEBass/Schuler Entertainment

Fort Hays State University, Hays, KS08/16/13 600 Beach/Schmidt PerformingArts Center5 5 5 5 5 5 -Brett Bruner, Director of Persistence & Retention

Lincoln College, Lincoln, IL08/19/13 75 Student Center5 5 5 5 5 5 4Jeff Nelson, Dir of Student Activities

Millikin University, Decatur, IL08/21/13 500 Performing Arts Center5 5 5 5 5 5 5They were very funny. The students LOVEDthis show. Great reviews.Molly Berry, Director of ISE

Iowa Wesleyan College, Mount Pleasant, IA08/22/13 150+ Chapel5 5 5 5 5 5 5They were simply awesome from the timethe arrived to the time they left! The stu-dents love their show and have been askingwhen they will return. I plan on bookingAGAIN!! SIMPLY AWESOME!Kat Niemann, Director of Student Engagement

SAMMY OBEIDKP Comedy

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,Champaign, IL08/23/13 500 Illini Union at the UIUC5 5 5 5 5 5 5It was a great show. The students that at-tended could be heard laughing, all the waydown the hallway. Sammy was also verynice and easy to work with.Tearria Beck-Scott, Program Advisor

CHRISTOPHER CARTERBass/Schuler Entertainment

Purdue University-Main Campus, WestLafayette, IN08/12/13 3000+ Elliott Hall of Music5 5 5 5 5 5 5Chris was fantastic! I needed everything to beinclusive and easy as we have a very busy ori-entation structure. He was great!! Greatagency to work with for entertainment too!Kasi Jones, Coordinator of Orientation

University of Central Missouri, Warrensburg, MO08/21/13 1000+ Hendricks Hall5 5 5 5 5 5 5Our student body loved Chris's perform-ance. He was actively involved with the au-dience throughout his performance.Carrie Calovich, Comedy Coordinator

Loras College, Dubuque, IA08/24/13 500 Auditorium5 5 5 5 5 5 5Emma Smith, Programmer Executive

CRAIG KARGESKarges Productions

Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA08/20/13 1600 Tent at Carnegie Mellon5 5 5 5 5 5 5

Craig's show was excellent as always; wehave had him do this Orientation programannually for many years. The OrientationCounselors who saw him as first year stu-dents are excited to see him again and sharethe experience with our 1340 new students.We get over 1500 at the event every year. Itis a great show!Anne Witchner, Assistant Dean of StudentAffairs; Director of Orientaiton

Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA08/23/13 600+ Union Ballroom at DuquesneUniversity5 5 5 5 5 5 5Craig is one of our most anticipated actsevery year and he never disappoints! I haveseen his show three times and continue tofind myself lost in a jaw dropping trance.Jade Leitzel, Assistant Director of Orientation

Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA08/24/13 850+ Off-campus venue5 5 5 5 5 5 5This was Craig's third time performing dur-ing the Lehigh University orientation week-end. As always he was captivating,entertaining and put on an amazing show.We plan to bring him back next year.Matt Kitchie, Director of Student Activities

Henderson State University, Arkadelphia, AR08/26/13 325 Garrison Center Union5 5 5 5 - 5 5The show was amazing and the studentsloved it!!!Chad J. Fielding, Dean of Students

ERIC DITTELMANFranco Talent

American University, Washington, DC08/23/13 222 Tavern5 5 5 5 - 4 4Eric was FANTASTIC!! He was engagingwith our students and did about an hour ofteasers before the show which caused stu-dents to show up early to the event (some-thing that NEVER happens at our school).He is incredibly easy to work with.

THE RATING SYSTEM: 5= EXCELLENT 4= VERY GOOD 3= AVERAGE 2= FAIR 1= POOR

YOUR GUIDE TO AMERICA’S BEST ARTIST RATINGS

If you want to know how good an act might be that you plan on booking, just ask another campus where they have played. Here are current reports from ourreaders. All ratings here had complete verifiable information and were signed by the reviewer. All reports must have been submitted by the school where thedate was played. These reports are comprised of reports electronically submitted on our web site. Reports MAY NOT be submitted by the artist or theiragency. ALL REPORTS MUST BE SUBMITTED ON OUR WEBSITE AT: http://www.campusactivitiesmagazine.com/arc/THERE IS A DIRECT LINK TO THE REPORT FORM ON THE HOME PAGE.

HERE ARE THE CATEGORIES FOR THE RATINGS FOUND AFTER THE BUYER’S NAME AND PLAY DATE: (1) ORIGINALITY; (2) ARTIST’S ABILITY; (3) RELATIONSHIPTO THE AUDIENCE; (4) COOPERATION / ATTITUDE; (5) ROAD CREW / MANAGEMENT; (6) AGENCY COOPERATION; (7) PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS PROVIDED.Campus Reports listed in RED indicate the buyer reported a perfect score in all categories that applied to their campus performance for that artist or event.ATTENDANCE (When Available) AND THE LOCATION ON CAMPUS WILL FOLLOW THE PERFORMANCE DATE.THESE RATINGS REPRESENT ACTUAL SHOWS REPORTED BETWEEN JUNE 1 AND AUGUST 31, 2013

COMEDY

VARIETY


Katie Junot, Coordinator, Program Initiatives

FREDERICK WINTERSBass/Schuler Entertainment

Lincoln College, Lincoln, IL08/16/13 150 Johnston Center5 5 5 5 - 5 5Jeff Nelson, Dir. of Student Activities

Edgewood College, Madison, WI08/28/13 275 Anderson Auditorium5 5 5 5 5 5 5Even though Fred was sick, he still put onan amazing show for new students! We hadstanding room only available and peoplewere still trying to cram in to see him per-form! Those on stage loved it and the audi-ence was fully captivated by hisperformance! We've already been asked tobring him back next year!Rosana Godinez, Assistant Director of Student Activities

JOEL MEYERSGP Entertainment

California University of Pennsylvania, California, PA08/23/13 237 Natali Student Center Perform-ance Center5 5 5 5 5 5 5Joel is a very personable guy and is absolutelygreat to have at our school. We thoroughlyenjoy every time he comes to Cal U!Kate Sheldon, Student - Secretary/Treasurer

MAT FRANCOFranco Talent

The University of Texas-Pan American, Edinburg, TX08/22/13 1000+ Gym5 5 2 5 5 5 5Franco was an awesome performer, how-ever for a venue like a gym and a crowd of1000, this kind of performance did not work.It was too noisy, the gym was not equippedwith the right sound system, and if the stu-dents were not directly in front of him, theydid not get the chance to feel engaged.LM Cortina, Program Coordinator

MICHAEL KENTFresh Variety

Illinois State University, Normal, IL08/14/13 575 Brown Ballroom5 5 5 5 - 5 5Excellent performer for our Welcome Week.The students enjoyed Michael's magic andcomedy. Definitely a high quality act andperformer.Michelle Whited, Programming Coordinator

Winthrop University, Rock Hill, SC08/17/13 1100 Byrnes Auditorium5 5 5 5 5 5 5He was wonderful! He was my first act in myposition on my programming board. Iadored him and enjoyed him all together! Iwould want to bring him back sometime!Kimberly Branham, Coffeehouse Chair

Northern Kentucky University, Highland Heights, KY08/22/13 300+ NKU Ballroom4 5 5 5 5 4 4Michael Kent is wonderful to work with. Thatis evident in our yearly booking of him. NKUloves Michael Kent!Leah Kelly, Coordinator of Programming

Miami University-Oxford, Oxford, OH08/23/13 600 Student Center5 5 4 5 - 4 4Most easy going performer. Great to workwith and fabulous personality. Can't wait tobook him again. Most successful part ofWelcome Week.Laura Whitmire, Assistant Director

Urbana University, Urbana, OH08/24/13 110 Student Center5 5 5 5 - 5 5Always a huge hit on campus! Michael is ex-cellent with our students - from the qualityof his pre-show prep through the end of theshow. A true and proven fan-favorite!Mitch Joseph, Director of Campus Life

Bowling Green State University-Main Cam-pus, Bowling Green, OH08/26/13 425 Student Center Ballroom5 5 5 5 - 5 5Better every year!

Andy Alt, Director

Texas A & M University-Texarkana,Texarkana, TX08/28/13 150 Eagle Hall (Banquet Room)5 5 5 5 - 5 5Michael was fantastic to work with! Our stu-dents loved him and he was really helpfulwith promoting the show. He instagrammed& tweeted with our students, sent posters,and did a noon teaser. We can't wait to havehim back!Celeste McNiel, Coordinator for Student Activities

Saint Anselm College, Manchester, NH08/30/13 590 Dana Center5 5 5 5 - 5 5We love Michael!Jean M. Couture, Director of Student Activities

MIKE SUPERMike Super

University of Akron Main Campus, Akron, OH08/23/13 1545 E.J. Thomas Hall5 5 5 5 5 5 -Mike Super was LAVENOUS! His full per-forming arts magic and illusion show blewthe minds of everyone in the audience!There is still a buzz going around about howhe pulled everything off so seamlessly. Mikewas great even after the show and stayed aslong as it took for everyone to get throughthe meet and greet line.Holly K. Pilcavage, Graduate Assistant, Res-idence Hall Program Board

RAN'D SHINEEverything But The Mime

Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, Edinboro, PA08/24/13 100+ Cole5 5 5 5 5 5 3Abby Trypus, Graduate Assistant

Anne Arundel Community College, Arnold, MD08/28/13 200+ Dining Hall5 5 5 5 5 5 5

Awesome show for college students. Greatmix of comedy and magic, great audienceparticipation. We will for sure bring Ran'Dback at some point.Anthony Davis, Student Life Specialist

East Stroudsburg Univ of Pennsylvania,East Stroudsburg, PA08/29/13 50+ Common Grounds5 5 5 5 - 4 4Daniel Pagan-Figueroa, Campus Activities Board

ASIAN NAME PAINTING AND CARICATURE.COM (NAMES AND FACES)Everything But The Mime

Spartanburg Methodist College, Spartanburg, SC08/19/13 100+ Student Center5 5 5 5 5 5 -Kim Caton, Director of Student Activities

BIG CHAIR PHOTOSKirkland Productions

Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX08/20/13 450 Student Union Building5 5 5 5 - 5 5It was a great event and our students had ablast with it! The attendance number we en-tered was what our student working theevent estimated - not exactly sure of the ac-curacy, but we had an excellent turnout.Thanks for everything!Kelsey Holt, Graduate Assistant

CARICATURE ARTISTSEverything But The Mime

Lenoir-Rhyne University, Hickory, NC08/24/13 100+ Shaw Plaza5 5 5 5 5 5 5Fantastic program! Will definitely have backon campus. Jeff Mandell was sensational!Jonathan Rink, Director of Residence Life

GAMES


HOT AIR BALLOON RIDESKirkland Productions

Cal Poly Pomona, Pomona, CA07/06/12 150+ Engineering Meadow5 5 5 5 5 5 -Maria-Lisa Flemington, Program Coordinator

PORTABLE ZIP LINEXtreme Entertainment

University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL06/25/13 120+ Recreation and WellnessCenter4 5 4 5 5 4 -Xtreme Entertainment was very helpfulwhen working with students during theevent planning and arrived early to set up.Very helpful and knowledgeable with cam-pus safety and state inspection. Great towork with!Jonathon Morris, Graduate Assistant, Campus Activities Board

SPIN ART SHUTTER SHADESKirkland Productions

Texas A & M University-Commerce, Com-merce, TX07/10/13 80+ The Club at A&M-Commerce5 5 5 5 - 5 5The shutter shades were unique and ourstudents loved them!Crystal Garcia, Coordinator of Student Activities

A SHOT OF REALITYBass/Schuler Entertainment

Ellsworth Community College, Iowa Falls, IA08/20/13 275 Hamilton Auditorium5 5 5 5 5 5 5Barb Klein, Dean of Enrollment Services

DAVID COLEMANColeman Productions, Inc.

University of Akron Main Campus, Akron, OH08/19/13 195 Student Union Ballroom5 5 5 5 5 5 -David keeps the energy alive! He split his ses-sion in half- first he speaks to them about howto be a better leader and person and then hehas them BE better leaders and peoplethrough a series of activities. David is alwaysso willing to stay and talk with our studentsabout anything they have on their minds.Holly K. Pilcavage, GA-RHPB

DEL SUGGSDel Suggs

Darton College, Albany, GA06/12/13 100 Student Center5 5 5 5 - - 4Del is a class act. He is exceptionally wellrounded as a speaker, but can also easily han-dle specific topics. A great speaker indeed.Eric O'Cain, Assistant Dean for Campus Life

University of Akron Main Campus, Akron, OH08/15/13 70 Quaker Ballroom

5 5 5 5 5 5 -Del was thought-provoking and extremelyinspirational to all of our students! He wasa fantastic start to our semester and leftthem all with life-long lessons to not only bebetter leaders, but better people.Holly K. Pilcavage, GA-RHPB

ELAINE PASQUAPasqua Productions, Inc.

Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS08/05/13 110 Football Team Room5 5 5 5 - 5 5Program was excellent and well received bystudents and coaches. Students were en-gaged in activities as well as answered andasked questions. Students stayed after-wards to ask more questions and do demon-strations. Elaine was very approachable toboth student athletes and to coaches.Ann Carr, Sr. Associate Athletic Director

JESSICA PETTITTKirkland Productions

Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ08/13/13 200 Auditorium/Ballroom style4 5 5 5 - 4 -Jessica was brought in to talk to our ResidentAssistants and Hall Staff about social justiceadvocacy in their position. She was great towork and even in her hectic time of moving,she kept on top of keeping in touch with meleading up to her visit. She was very "low-maintenance" and was very understanding ofthe busy time of year that this was for us. Shewas a joy to have and our students were veryreceptive to her message.Victor M. Salazar, Jr, Coordinator of Staffand Community Development

Millikin University, Decatur, IL08/20/13 500 Performance Arts Center5 5 5 5 5 5 -We loved having Jessica on campus duringour orientation week. The First-Year stu-dents ate up every word, and really got intoher message. I would be very interested inbooking her again next year because hermessage of inclusion is the foundationalpiece of our campus.Molly Berry, Director of ISE

MAYIM BIALIKKeppler Speakers

University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL06/27/13 546+ Union Pegasus Ballroom4 5 5 5 - 5 -Mayim was very kind towards our studentstaff and interacted well with the audience!She had a great speech and took time to an-swer questions from students after. Shealso stayed after to make sure that everystudent had the opportunity to meet her andsigned autographs. I would recommendMayim for your campus!Jonathon Morris, Graduate Assistant, Cam-pus Activities Board

SEX SIGNALSBass/Schuler Entertainment

Brandeis University, Waltham, MA08/27/13 400 Spingold Theater5 5 5 5 5 5 -Jack and Sharyon did a great job and themajority of students really enjoyed it. I didwant to pass along some feedback though:some students felt that the transition fromcomedy to rape was abrupt and there wasno warning or lead in to it, which took some

SPEAKERS


students aback. Also, the stop cards werenot as clearly explained and students didnot realize they were supposed to continueusing them throughout the presentation.Perhaps a clearer explanation would havebeen helpful. Overall though, it was reallygreat and was exactly what I had expected.I look forward to bringing Sex Signals backto our campus again soon.Jenny Abdou, Director of Orientation

University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, Green Bay, WI08/30/13 400 Student Union5 5 5 5 - 4 -We will book them again.Mark Olkowski, Judicial Affairs Coordinator

TOM KRIEGLSTEINSwift Kick

University of Akron Main Campus, Akron, OH08/18/13 179 Quaker Ballroom5 5 5 5 5 5 -Tom's Dance Floor Theory and Free Hugsare just the beginning to the amazing lead-ership development his presentations haveto offer. He helped to create bonds and newfriendships in minutes that might have takena lot longer to form without him. Such agreat way to start off the semester!Holly K. Pilcavage, Graduate Assistant, Residence Hall Program Board

TRACY KNOFLAHigh Impact Training

University of Akron Main Campus, Akron, OH08/17/13 166 Quaker Ballroom5 5 5 5 5 5 -Tracy was amazing from beginning to end. Shetruly cares about each student in our programand it shows. Her True Colors presentationand activity sets the tone for working with dif-ferent types of people from day one.Holly K. Pilcavage, GA-RHPB


GOO GOO DOLLS AT THE GRAND OPERA HOUSE© grand opera house

2013 eventsnaca sOutH: september 26-29 • chattanooga, tnnaca centRaL: October 2-6 • tulsa, OKnaca miD-atLantic: October 17-20 • Buffalo, nYnaca nORtHeast: October 31- november 3 • Hartford, ctnaca miD-ameRica: november 7-10 • peoria, iLnaca West: november 14-17 • Ontario, ca

2014 eventsapap natiOnaL cOnFeRence: Jan 10-14, 2014,

neW YORK HiLtOn, neW YORK, nYnaca natiOnaL cOnventiOn: FeB 15-19, 2014,

HYnes cOnventiOn centeR, BOstOn, manaca nORtHeRn pLains: april 3-6, 2014 • st. paul, mnaep WORLDWiDe signatuRe event: June 19-21, 2014

gRanD OpeRa HOuse, WiLmingtOn De

cOntact inFORmatiOn:national association For campus activities (naca) • (803) 732-6222, naca.orgassociation of performing arts presenter (apap) • (202) 207-3842, apapnyc.orgassociation of entertainment professionals (aep) • ian Kirby (803) 941-7228, aepworldwide.org

Campus Activities Magazine®NATIONAL ADVISORY

BOARD

Kathy C. ArnettDirector/Student Union &Associate Director/Benson University CenterWake Forest University

Joseph W. McGibboneyCoordinator for Student ProgrammingDean of Student DepartmentFlorida Gulf Coast University

Boyd Jones, Campus Programs DirectorDept. of Student AffairsWinthrop University

April Palmer Assistant Dean of StudentsNewberry College

Mike RapayUniversity Program Council AdvisorAuburn University

Tom FaesselAssoc Dir Res Life ActivitiesThe University Of Akron

Chris Schuler- PartnerBass/Schuler Entertainment

Nikki FranklinSenior Entertainment SpecialistTalentPlus Universal

Gina Kirkland, PresidentKirkland Productions

Sailesh Jiawan. OwnerMetropolis Management

Laura Gilman. PartnerFresh Variety


TO RECEIVE ASPECIAL DISCOUNT WHEN

INQUIRING ABOUT THIS STORY,MENTION CAM SPECIAL OFFER.

Isn’t it time we brought a little classback to magic?

That’s exactly what magician MarkToland has set out to do, combining awe-inspiring and mind-blowing visual magicand mentalism with a classic hip style thathails back to the days of Sinatra and oldtime Vegas. It’s magic specifically tai-lored to the campus market.

“I’m trying to get across the point that it’s notmagic for kids,” Mark says. “Which is re-flected in my website and promo materials.”You can watch just a bit of video on his web-site and see that he’s cut from a differentcloth than most of the performers workingthe market currently. “I think there are a fewthings that make me different,” he says.“The show can be really funny, but I don’tconsider myself a ‘comedy magician.’ Onthe other hand, it can be really dramatic, butI also don’t take myself too seriously. I amtrying to make the experience as theatricalas I can, without becoming too contrived.”

Unlike most magicians, who’s technical abil-ity in creating a true experience for an audi-ence is limited to their performanceexperience, Mark has made the study of theart a priority, and brings in knowledge to hisfield that even most serious performers lack.“I was a theatrical performance major,” hesays, “and I kind of look at magic from anacting/theater perspective. I see the showas a play or plot, not a display of skill. It’ssomething that has a beginning, a middleand an end. There are twists and turns, sur-prises and call backs from different times inthe performance. I want audiences to feellike they are sitting down to watch a featuremovie, except instead of writing off theamazing things they are seeing to comput-ers and Hollywood effects, they are left try-

ing to figure out what just happened right infront of them, live on stage and involvingtheir own peers.”

Because Mark’s show is written and per-formed around this theme of an experienceand high drama, he’s not locked into anyparticular “type” of trick. As long as an effecthe wants to perform flows with the continuityof the experience, he can put it in the show.This lends him a tremendous amount of lee-way with the types of magic he wants to per-form. He isn’t boxed in to doing only scarymutilation tricks like Criss Angel, or freakingpeople out with his dark stare like DavidBlaine, or hauling around large and compli-cated boxes and rigs for grand scale stageillusions like traditional Vegas magicians.“It’s kind of a roller coaster; I find that one-second I can do mind reading and mental-ism, and then turn around and do some sortof bizarre stunt mixed in with some hypnosismaybe. It just keeps things fresh and is agood, eclectic mix of what I like to do.”

It truly is an experience for the audience.Mark does not turn it into a “Look at me!”performance where he only wants to showoff his skill. What he does is about bringingthe audience in as deeply as possible, nomatter what the means. “I do some stand-up comedy, some storytelling and improvgames, it’s everything I loved doing andwatching in college (laughs) and I kind ofcombined it all into what I think is a newbrand of magic show.”

Mark grew up in a small town in Kansas,and he didn’t become the innovative and in-teresting magician he is overnight. He cred-its much of his success to the fact that hewas raised in a place where there wasn’t awhole lot else to do. “I come from a reallysmall town, and I really think that is why I do

magic. I live in Chicago now, and I think thatif I had grown up here I would have beenout at Cubs games and down in the loopand experiencing all the things there are tosee in a big city. I wouldn’t have been homewith a pile of books and a deck of cards be-coming fascinated by my eventual careerchoice. Way too much idle time with myhands led me here, I was pretty hooked onmagic for a long time.”

Like so many of us, during his early adultyears, Mark went through an interestingpersonal metamorphosis and changing ofperspective that led him away from this pathfor a time. “I became somewhat disillu-sioned with magic in college, I started atUSC in LA and then finished at WichitaState. I saw so many magic shows that Idragged my girlfriend (now my wife) to, thatbecame just this big blur of the same thingover and over and I kind of fell out of wantingto do magic. I just wasn’t excited about itany more. I took a step back and reallystarted to approach it from the mind set ofan adult. How would an adult appreciatethis art? I didn’t want to patronize, I didn’twant to pander; I wanted to perform it theway I saw it and give a kind of show thatplays to their intelligence and keeps thingsclassy and high brow. I had my ups anddowns. I wasn’t completely committed to itmy entire life, but it has definitely been mypassion for most of it and it felt very good torealize that I could come back to it with afresh perspective and approach that madeit exciting for me once again.”

See how the classy, chic and trulyamazing Mark Toland can make magic

exciting again for your campus. Contact him at 855-624-4268 [email protected] for

more information.


One thing we all have in common, whetherpersonally, as business owners, or as cam-pus life professionals, is the desire not to be-come stagnant.

CEP, Inc. has cemented itself as one of thetop suppliers of novelties and games in thecampus market but its mastermind, MikeSeymore, sought to make it much more. Inthis article we’ll explore how Mike wanted totake his company from being a profitablebusiness that only provided fun to its clients,to something that could also provide educa-tion and enlightenment.

“I have been in the college market for 21years,” Mike says. “Because I have hadsuch a background in product developmentin the college market producing dynamic newgames and attractions, there was a time backin about 2000 that I decided I wanted to takeit even further and begin creating featuresthat people could experience in museums.”

Mike first created and patented a flight simu-lator that the average person could get in andexperience combat scenarios and fly like apro. “It featured realistic physics wherein thepilot could dive, climb, do barrel rolls and ex-perience a 360 degree virtual reality as if theywere really in the air. The users werestrapped into five-point harnesses, whichheld both pilot and gunner, so that a compan-ion could sit next to you and enjoy the expe-rience as well. They were able to usemissiles and machine guns; it was an incred-ible and very realistic experience, especiallyfor that time.”

To lend some perspective, 13 years ago maynot seem like a long time, but in the world oftechnology and gaming, it was generationsago. The Playstation 2 was first released inthat year, and there was no such thing as an

Xbox. “We started doing very well distributingthese systems to museums around the coun-try. By the time we got into it a couple of years,my creative mind was starting to feel a bit pi-geon-holed dealing with only this one product(laughs). I had moved away from the collegemarket at that point, where it was only about30 percent of our revenue, but I missed beingmore involved with it. The campus market re-ally lets us spread our wings in terms of cre-ativity, and not just in products, but in the waybusiness is done and developed. That waswhen my brother and I officially formed CEPand began launching products into the cam-pus market very quickly.”

This was in 2006. Mike and CEP were ableto be successful launching novelties andgames in the market, but realized they wereon the threshold of being able to do some-thing much bigger. “We knew we had a na-tional platform to do some good – a lot ofgood. That was when the decision wasmade to get into the health and wellness as-pect of college entertainment.”

This would become the true evolutionary leapfor CEP to transform themselves beyond justfun and games and turn into a company thatcould truly help make a difference. “First wegot into drunk driving prevention; we as acountry were losing about 1700 college stu-dents every year to alcohol related auto fatal-ities. That was in 2007, then in 2008 wemoved into texting and driving prevention pro-grams, because we saw that on a nationalscale this was becoming a huge problem.Even though we were excelling with our prod-uct line in the novelty/variety niche, I reallywanted to serve a greater good and help ourstudents to become stronger, smarter and livelonger and healthier lives by being exposed toeducational programs that would allow thestudents to really absorb these messages

through interaction, becoming their own proofstatements through peer on peer learning asopposed to lecturing to them. That allowed usto really affect change.”

CEP’s health and wellness division devel-oped programs not only for drunk and dis-tracted driving, but nutrition education,tobacco education and cyber bullying as well.“We are working on delivering a message onbullying through a game show medium, andwe continue to develop more of these pro-grams wherever we see a need.”

Then it struck Mike that it wasn’t only campuslife and college students that could be posi-tively affected by these programs. “We real-ized that for every single college campus outthere buying programs to help deal with theseissues, there were 50 high schools with stu-dents preparing to go to college that could notafford these programs. That’s when we real-ized how unfair that was. This was giving stu-dents from the more affluent areas of societywhere the programs were affordable an al-most unfair advantage in this preventative ed-ucation. This isn’t just about well-off kidshaving nicer things, these are issues that theother kids are not being exposed to education-ally that can literally translate into life or death.”

That is when the decision was made to forma non-profit foundation. “This was all basedon the momentum that our novelty companyhad,” Mike says, “that allowed us to be able toafford to move in that direction. I set out to forma 501c3 called the P.E.E.R.S. Foundation,which stands for Professionals EncouragingEducational Reform. The goal of the founda-tion is to get out in society and offer these ed-ucational programs that are critical, in myopinion at least, especially when it comes todistracted and drunk driving but also in nutri-tional and tobacco education, to the youth of

CEP Uses Its Success To Develop Programs That Save Lives


America. Kids these days (I sound old) areborn with these phones in their hands, andoften get behind the wheel with absolutelyno preparation or education about justhow dangerous it is to use them whileoperating a 1-2 ton motor vehicle.None of us were born knowing every-thing. We need to be educated.”

Of course no small business owner could sup-port the education of our entire youth on theirown dime, so Mike had to use his skills in busi-ness, sales and persuasion to figure out howto make it happen. “We went out in an attemptto partner with corporate America to fund theunderprivileged school districts with these im-portant programs. It took about seven yearsin development before we got our first two bigaccounts, but those two accounts have al-

lowed the foundation to do an incred-ible amount of work in those districtsby going out into society at commu-nity events to educate the general

population and students. Now we arein a position where we are getting moreand more attention nationally from some of

the biggest corporations in America.”

The AT&T “It Can Wait” campaign is a perfectexample, and Mike says there are more inthe pipeline. “We are currently working withanother company that is the biggest of theirindustry that I hope will let this project con-tinue to evolve and allow us to bring theseimportant programs to the masses.”

As one can clearly see, CEP Inc has gonefrom your basic novelty company and turned

itself into much more. Evolving from whatwas, granted, an innovative company, but stillone offering only fun and games, to one thatallows them to truly impact the world andquite possibly save lives, contributing to animprovement to the quality of life of the thou-sands of people its programs have touched.

How will you evolve? What will you do togrow yourself and your work beyond whatyou might have first conceived, and turn it intosomething truly important?

For more information on CEP, Inc.,and the P.E.E.R.S. Foundation, contact them at 866-288-8126, oremail Mike directly at: [email protected].


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